Home » News » Politics
Governor signs bill making home invasions punishable by death penalty
CONCORD — Murders committed during home invasions will be punishable by death under the bill Gov. John Lynch signed on Tuesday.
Called the Kimberly L. Cates Law, House Bill 147 was passed in response to the brutal murder and stabbing of a Mont Vernon mother and her daughter in October 2009.
Kimberly Cates, 42, and her daughter Jamie, were attacked in the middle of the night inside their home. Cates died after being hacked and stabbed with a machete and a knife, but Jamie survived her wounds. Kimberly's husband David Cates was away on business at the time.
David Cates was on hand when Lynch signed the bill named in memory of his late wife, at the governor's invitation. The signing was done in private.
Afterward, Lynch issued a statement saying, “I believe strongly that there are some crimes so heinous that the death penalty is warranted. As a state, we've used our death penalty statute judiciously and cautiously, as is appropriate. But there are some horrific crimes that are not currently covered under our capital murder statute.”
All four teens involved in the Cates murder and another who helped cover up evidence have been convicted and are in prison. Two, Stephen Spader and Christopher Gribble, are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
Speaker of the House William O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, sponsored HB 147.
He said Tuesday, “It is unfortunate that it took a tragedy like the Kimberly Cates murder to bring this common sense, measured and responsible expansion of the New Hampshire death penalty statute.
“Our homes are our sanctuary and this was a necessary enhancement of protection for those in their homes who have the right to be safe and secure. This legislation will achieve justice for victims and allow for deterrence to those who would enter the homes of others to murder them.”
Under long-standing state law, the death penalty can also be sought in murders of police officers, judges and other law enforcement; murders during rapes, kidnappings or drug deals; murders for hire, and those committed by someone serving a life-without-parole prison sentence.
David Cates testified adamantly in favor of the expansion bill at a House public hearing.
Technical problems with O'Brien's version of HB 147 prompted concern it was worded too broadly. The Attorney General's Office recommended changes that make it clear the murder must be of someone “licensed or privileged “ to be in the home at the time.
O'Brien first tried to add home invasion murder to capital murder laws in December 2009. Democratic House leaders rejected his effort, saying the bill was filed too late to be considered during the session that started a few weeks later. Besides, they said, an identical bill was already set for hearings in the Senate.
The Senate bill failed, in part because a special commission reviewing the death penalty was still working on a report late that came out late in 2010. The study commission voted 12-10 to recommend no changes in the capital murder law.
The state currently has only one person on death row, Michael Addison, convicted for the murder of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in October 2006.
The state has not executed anyone for murder since 1939.
In the past lawmakers have rejected other proposed death penalty expansions, including efforts to apply the law to murders of children, and multiple murders. A bill has been proposed for next year that would include murders that involve torture.
Called the Kimberly L. Cates Law, House Bill 147 was passed in response to the brutal murder and stabbing of a Mont Vernon mother and her daughter in October 2009.
Kimberly Cates, 42, and her daughter Jamie, were attacked in the middle of the night inside their home. Cates died after being hacked and stabbed with a machete and a knife, but Jamie survived her wounds. Kimberly's husband David Cates was away on business at the time.
David Cates was on hand when Lynch signed the bill named in memory of his late wife, at the governor's invitation. The signing was done in private.
Afterward, Lynch issued a statement saying, “I believe strongly that there are some crimes so heinous that the death penalty is warranted. As a state, we've used our death penalty statute judiciously and cautiously, as is appropriate. But there are some horrific crimes that are not currently covered under our capital murder statute.”
All four teens involved in the Cates murder and another who helped cover up evidence have been convicted and are in prison. Two, Stephen Spader and Christopher Gribble, are serving life sentences with no chance of parole.
Speaker of the House William O'Brien, R-Mont Vernon, sponsored HB 147.
He said Tuesday, “It is unfortunate that it took a tragedy like the Kimberly Cates murder to bring this common sense, measured and responsible expansion of the New Hampshire death penalty statute.
“Our homes are our sanctuary and this was a necessary enhancement of protection for those in their homes who have the right to be safe and secure. This legislation will achieve justice for victims and allow for deterrence to those who would enter the homes of others to murder them.”
Under long-standing state law, the death penalty can also be sought in murders of police officers, judges and other law enforcement; murders during rapes, kidnappings or drug deals; murders for hire, and those committed by someone serving a life-without-parole prison sentence.
David Cates testified adamantly in favor of the expansion bill at a House public hearing.
Technical problems with O'Brien's version of HB 147 prompted concern it was worded too broadly. The Attorney General's Office recommended changes that make it clear the murder must be of someone “licensed or privileged “ to be in the home at the time.
O'Brien first tried to add home invasion murder to capital murder laws in December 2009. Democratic House leaders rejected his effort, saying the bill was filed too late to be considered during the session that started a few weeks later. Besides, they said, an identical bill was already set for hearings in the Senate.
The Senate bill failed, in part because a special commission reviewing the death penalty was still working on a report late that came out late in 2010. The study commission voted 12-10 to recommend no changes in the capital murder law.
The state currently has only one person on death row, Michael Addison, convicted for the murder of Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in October 2006.
The state has not executed anyone for murder since 1939.
In the past lawmakers have rejected other proposed death penalty expansions, including efforts to apply the law to murders of children, and multiple murders. A bill has been proposed for next year that would include murders that involve torture.